


There's Only You Tonight

by flowerfan



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Holiday, M/M, Soulmates, Swawesome Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 09:37:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8885875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/pseuds/flowerfan
Summary: Bitty spends orientation week roaming around campus, running his hand over library tables and seats in the coffeehouse, and being as alert as possible for anything that feels remotely unusual.  He believes in soulmates.  But it isn’t until his first hockey practice at Faber that it happens.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PorcupineGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PorcupineGirl/gifts).



> Written for the ‘Swawesome Santa 2016 exchange, for Porcupine Girl.

Bitty has always dreamed of having a soulmate. His mama and Coach are soulmates, and both of his mama’s sisters have soulmates. But not everyone in his family does, so he knows it’s not a sure thing. Only about thirty percent of the population has a soulmate, and some people claim it doesn’t actually mean anything – but Bitty thinks it does.

He sees the look on his mama’s face every time she tells the story of how she and Coach met, and he knows having a soulmate is something special. Why else would fate have brought her family to a nondescript suburb on the outskirts of Atlanta, to a movie theater where she for once sat off to the side when she otherwise loved to sit in the center? Where she felt that indescribable flutter in her stomach that spread warmth throughout her entire body, just by passing through the space her soulmate had occupied, sitting in the seat where he had been?

Bitty knows he isn’t going to find his soulmate in his small hometown. The few times other kids are physical with him are never the type of touch that leads to pleasure, and he quickly learns to avoid contact with his intolerant classmates.

Mama tells Bitty over and over that you can’t force a soulmate connection, that if it is meant to be, it will happen. But that doesn’t stop him from trying to stack the deck in his favor. He’s a smart kid, after all, and his love for the soulmate fantasy is tinged with a healthy dose of pragmatism. 

So when it comes time to choose a college, Bitty does his research. He’s pretty sure that if he does have a soulmate out there somewhere, it’s going to be a boy, and so it makes sense to select a school that is more likely have to a decent sized group of possible mates. 

Samwell is everything he hoped it would be – welcoming to people regardless of who they love, and the perfect picturesque New England backdrop for his soulmate meeting. Bitty spends orientation week roaming around campus, running his hand over library tables and seats in the coffeehouse, and being as alert as possible for anything that feels remotely unusual. But it isn’t until his first hockey practice at Faber that it happens.

Bitty almost doesn’t notice – it’s cool at the rink, and he and the other new players are huddled in the stands, listening to the coach describe his expectations for the year – and he’s got his arms wrapped around himself to try to warm up. He wants to make a good impression on his new teammates, all of whom are significantly bigger and taller than he is, and he’s feeling self-conscious already. But then they get out on the ice and the coach instructs Bitty to move towards the center and – there it is. A tingling feeling, a flutter, and an echo of warmth calms his nerves. 

Bitty is flying high for the rest of the day. Not only does he have a soulmate – and this alone is cause for celebration – but his soulmate skates. And he has been here, right here, at center ice in Faber. 

Bitty tries to be subtle about meeting each of the new freshman players. He’s mostly successful, he thinks - apparently bringing mini-pies to each of their dorm rooms just so he can shake their hands or touch them firmly on the arm doesn’t make them think he’s trying to find his soulmate, it just makes them demand more pie. But it soon becomes clear that none of these boys are the one he is looking for.

The rest of the team join their practices by the end of the week, and Bitty brings more pie. After practice he cuts each of his teammates a slice, and makes sure that their hands brush when he offers them the carefully plated treat. When the last slice has been given out, and none of the boys trigger even a twinge, he sighs. 

That night, Bitty tosses and turns in his bed. His soulmate is a skater, but isn’t on the hockey team. There has to be a logical solution. He sits up and pulls out his laptop. Samwell doesn’t have any formal figure skating programs, but there is a recreational skating club. So maybe his soulmate just happened to go for a skate one day. Bitty writes down when the open skate sessions are, and resolves to check them out. His soulmate is out there somewhere, and Bitty is going to find him, no matter what it takes.

One night the freshmen are invited to the hockey frat house for a get-together. Bitty is a little nervous, as he assumes it will probably involve hazing, and as welcoming as Samwell is, Bitty is a small gay boy and these hockey players are huge probably straight men. As it turns out, the team co-captains explain, while the Samwell Men’s Hockey team does have some initiation traditions, they will all be conducted with respect, and the safety of all concerned will be a priority. Bitty smiles to himself, thinking once again that choosing Samwell may have been the best decision of his life.

“Hey, you’re the baker, right?” One of the captains asks. 

Bitty scours his brain for the right nickname – Ransom. Hockey players are confusing. “Yup, that’s me.”

“Well, come on, bro, you’re gonna love this.” Ransom guides Bitty around a ragged looking green couch and into the kitchen. It looks like something from the before section of a TV makeover show, except for one appliance which is clearly almost brand new.

Bitty walks over to the gleaming oven and admires it reverently. “She’s beautiful.”

“We just got it last year,” Ransom explains. “Not sure why this was his parting gift, since we pretty much don’t cook anything more complicated than ramen. But you’re free to use it anytime you want.”

Bitty sighs, and reaches out to touch the shining silver knobs – then pulls his hand back in shock as a sharp burst of heat shoots through him. Bitty turns to question Ransom, but he has already headed back out into the living room. Bitty checks the oven and makes sure it isn’t on, and then, carefully, touches his fingers to it again. This time the heat is accompanied by a fluttering feeling, and a wide grin spreads across Bitty’s face. His soulmate has been here, too. He’s touched this very oven. Bitty’s night is definitely looking up.

Bitty calls his mama the next day, enthusiastically telling her all about his discoveries. She cautions him that it is fine to be happy, but he still needs to focus on his schoolwork. Bitty knows she is just worried, that she doesn’t want him to be disappointed, but he is still over the moon with the knowledge that he could meet his soulmate at any time.

Bitty’s excitement dims, however, as weeks and then months go by, and his soulmate remains hidden. While further exploration of the frat house leads to other moments of soul-warming delight, the fact that a history book makes his fingers tingle and the oven never ceases to give him butterflies is really not enough to satisfy him. And he also realizes that with the number of parties the hockey team throws, hundreds of people visit the Haus each year. 

His midterm grades are less than satisfactory, and Bitty tries to concentrate on his studies for the rest of the semester. It’s hard, though, knowing his soulmate is out there somewhere. Bitty wanders into the tutoring center one day, thinking maybe that his soulmate could be his tutor – but he’s not. He thinks about it when he buys a pumpkin spice latte, purposefully dropping his change and brushing his hand against the cashier’s arm – but there’s no reaction. 

After his last final exam, Bitty heads over to the Haus. Tonight they’re having a kegster, and Bitty is determined to make enough pie so that all that beer doesn’t just slosh around inside his teammates without anything to soak it up. It’s not the most noble use of pie, but it does the trick.

When the pies are safely in the oven, Bitty helps the rest of the team decorate. They’ve had a tree up for a few weeks already, but Chowder insisted that for his first East Coast holiday season they needed to go all out, so they wind greenery over the stair railing, hang a wreath on the front door, and set LED tealights in strategic positions all around the Haus. They’ve even got a menorah in the window, and a bowl of dreidels in case anyone wants to take a break from beer pong.

The party is in full swing when Bitty sees Nursey and Dex push through the crowd towards the front door. He peers into the living room from the kitchen but all he can see is someone coming into the Haus and being swarmed by hockey players and random party-goers alike.

“What’s going on?” Tango asks, coming to stand next to Bitty and peer into the chaos.

“I don’t know, hon. Why don’t you go find out?”

Tango returns in a few minutes. “Bitty – you’re never going to believe it. Jack Zimmermann is here!”

Bitty knew as well as anyone that the Falconer’s star rookie, Jack Zimmermann, had been the captain of the SMH team until he graduated last year. But he had never expected him to show up at the Haus.

“What’s he doing here? Doesn’t he have more important things to do?” Bitty mutters, glancing around at the messy state of the kitchen. He grabs a few paper towels and tries to neaten things up, but then he realizes Jack Zimmermann probably isn’t here to do an inspection. He’s probably just going to have a few beers and party with his old teammates. Bitty can’t even offer him pie – the guys have demolished everything he cooked, and he’s out of supplies.

Bitty putters around the kitchen a little bit longer, and then decides to call it a night. He doesn’t much care for how these parties usually end – too many large men and too much alcohol – and he figures the addition of a grown-ass professional hockey player probably won’t make the event any more bearable. But when he pokes his head into the living room, he doesn’t see the Falconers rookie anywhere.

Bitty sees Ransom over by the beer pong table and heads in his direction – he may not want to stay out late, but has better manners than to leave a party without saying thank you to the host. A trio of swaying boys approach – swimmers, he thinks – and Bitty steps back against the wall, trying to stay out of their way and out of range of the full cups of beer they are carrying.

As he does, however, Bitty bumps right into a warm, firm body, and as he spins to see who he has crashed into, he flushes with a sudden warmth. 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…” Bitty’s words trail off as he looks up into the bluest eyes he has ever seen. His knees buckle, and he would have fallen if strong hands hadn’t grabbed his elbows and…

“It’s you,” the man says, an awed expression on his face. “Oh my god, it’s finally you.”

Bitty’s heart is beating a mile a minute and he simply can’t believe what it happening. He giggles – giggles! – and throws his hand over his mouth, but the man just smiles bashfully.

“You’re beautiful,” he says, and Bitty thinks he is going to swoon.

“You’re not too bad yourself,” he says, and bites his lip. “I’m Bitty.”

“Jack.” 

Bitty reaches up and touches his fingers to Jack’s chest, and the butterflies in his stomach intensify. “I’m so happy I found you. I knew you had been here – but I couldn’t find you.”

A sad look flickers over Jack’s face, and Bitty gasps. 

“You haven’t felt me anywhere, have you?” Bitty asks. Jack didn’t even know he had a soulmate, not until this very moment. Bitty’s never been to Providence, or a Falconers game, or anywhere that Jack might have sensed his presence. 

Jack shakes his head. “No. But… I kept hoping. And then Johnson made me buy that oven…” Jack looks thoughtful for a moment, and then shakes his head and smiles softly at Bitty. “But I feel it now. You do too, right?”

Bitty bounces on his toes, and curls his fingers into Jack’s shirt. “I do. It’s amazing. You’re amazing.”

Jack’s smile broadens, and he ducks his head, then looks back at Bitty. He slides his hands up Bitty’s arms, one hand rising to cup his cheek, and then leans in for what is without a doubt the most wonderful kiss in the history of first kisses. Bitty forgets that he is in the middle of a frat house, forgets that he is at Samwell, forgets everything except the mind-blowingly marvelous feel of Jack’s lips on his own. 

When they part, Bitty looks up to find they are standing under a sprig of mistletoe. Jack follows his gaze, and wraps an arm around Bitty’s waist, holding him close. 

“I didn’t even notice that,” Jack says, pushing a strand of hair out of Bitty’s face. “Guess we don’t really need it though, do we?”

Bitty shakes his head, then reaches up to pull Jack towards him for another kiss. “Sweetheart, all I need is you.” Bitty feels Jack smile against his lips, and once again, the world goes away.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the lyrics of West Side Story’s “Tonight,” which has always seemed to me to be a fitting soulmate anthem.
> 
> PorcupineGirl requested a soulmate fic, and since I have never written one before, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I hope I did it justice!


End file.
